Cory B. Clay and The Twains return to Hannibal

Songs Hannibal native Corey B. Clay wrote for his new CD were heard in downtown Hannibal Friday, Sept. 13, when his band, Corey B. Clay and The Twains, presented a Down By the River concert at the Y Men’s Club pavilion.

Songs Hannibal native Corey B. Clay wrote for his new CD were heard in downtown Hannibal Friday, Sept. 13, when his band, Corey B. Clay and The Twains, presented a Down By the River concert at the Y Men’s Club pavilion.

Clay explained he wrote all the songs on his new CD, Corey B. Clay and The Twains, “The Kind of Man I Am.”

The title song, along with “Ol’ Huck Finn” and “Dew Drop Inn,” are the three featured tracts on the CD, Clay said.

He co-wrote “Ol Huck Finn” with Shooter Jennings, son of the late Waylon Jennings, noting that Shooter is “a well-known songwriter, who is a big influence on The Twains.

“I came to know Shooter and write with Shooter as a result of producing his music videos, particularly for his latest album, ‘The Other Life.’”

The new CD will be available online later but is currently only being sold on his tour. “I am touring with the CD so have not released it” for sale on the internet, he explained. However, the songs soon will be available on iTunes.

Today, Sept. 14, Clay and his band will play from 2:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Schlafly Hop in the City festival at the Schlafly Tap Room in St. Louis.

Clay’s parents, Tim and Judy Clay, came to Hannibal from their home in Winfield, Mo., for the Hannibal concert Friday, along with family members and friends from Iowa and St. Louis.

Hannibal audiences may have remembered Clay’s September 2011 performance in the Music Under the Stars series. His band now has some new members. Members of The Twains are Clay; Ross Bell, lead guitar; Mark Hochberg, bass; Cannon DeWeese, drums; Jonathan Brown, keys; and Matt Hughes, pedal steel.

Clay’s family moved from Hannibal to Rolla, Mo., when he was a high school sophomore, but he returned for one more summer to work at Old Planters restaurant, where he began washing dishes at age 15.

Clay credits the Ole Planters owners, Jack and Joe Noonan, for his musical background. Through them, he learned to enjoy the blues, roots music and also progressive rock. Once they took him to hear the Marshall Tucker Band play southern rock, which left a lasting impression on Clay.

Clay, who now splits his time between Nashville and Los Angeles, invited the public to contact him as The Twains on facebook or on the internet.